


First and Last Time

by Squishy_TRex



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Just Married, M/M, Post-Coital Cuddling, Reincarnation, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 11:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17079332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squishy_TRex/pseuds/Squishy_TRex
Summary: After over a century of separation, it’s more than enough to lay together and reminisce.





	First and Last Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmaranthTalmage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmaranthTalmage/gifts).



> The imagery just came to me out of the blue and I felt compelled to write something around it. Apparently, I have a thing for couples lazing around in bed together as this is the third fic I've written using that concept. Hope you enjoy!

Heady tendrils of smoke drifted from Goodnight’s mouth like morning fog at the peak of autumn. Leaning back against the headboard of the full size bed, just barely enough for two, he watched them dissipate into the air that was already clouded in the way most every seedy hotel room was.

Sighing contentedly, Goodnight closed his eyes and felt himself drift, coasting on a pleasant mix of tobacco, post-orgasmic satiation, and the euphoria that had clung to him like a tailored jacket since the ceremony ended. Before he could sink too far away, cigarette lightly tucked between two fingers, Goodnight felt a very familiarly lithe leg bump against his, knees knocking hard enough to draw sound.

He cracked one eye open and brought his head forward enough to get a proper look at his bedmate, stretched out on the opposite end of the bed. Naked as the day he was born and eyes glittering like twin stars against a black night, perfectly visible even in the dinginess of the room.

Even as relaxed and wiped out as he was, Goodnight felt his breath hitch, heartbeat jumping to life at the sight.

There was no doubt in his mind that, whenever or wherever they were, he would never be tired of looking at Billy.

Smirking a little, as he assuredly knew what Goodnight was thinking and feeling, he lazily crooked his fingers, beckoning for the cigarette. Heart stuttering at even that singular motion, Goodnight allowed himself another drag before passing it over, careful to make sure their fingers slid against each other so their matching rings pressed against each other like a kiss. 

Amazing how something so small could light a fire in Goodnight’s belly.

Regretfully breaking eye contact so he could maintain the calm atmosphere a little while longer, Goodnight tilted his head all the way back to breathe out whatever vapor he had left towards the ceiling. He indulged in a brief stretch and, in doing so, had his attention seized by the full sight of his newly adorned ring.

Eyeing the golden band with a swell of pride, he twisted his right hand so it caught against the dim light.

“Do you remember the first time I asked you to marry me?” Goodnight asked with no small amount of wistfulness in his voice, growing fond as he slipped back into memories that, despite being well over a hundred years old, still felt as fresh as any he’d accumulated in last thirty he’d been living.

A soft laugh from across the bed brought Goodnight’s attention from the artless designs on the ceiling back to the beautiful man in front of him.

He watched Billy take a long drag from their shared cigarette before fixing Goodnight with a smile and slowly exhaling all the smoke with the grace of a practiced professional.

“How could I forget,” he said in that deadpanned way of his, a trait that had surely followed him from beyond the grave and back into this life.

Goodnight raised an eyebrow at the response.

“Is that really all you have to say?” he asked, doing his best to look affronted, even though he knew the words had no bite. Billy noticed and he flashed a little teeth in his grin this time.

“It was very romantic,” he assured.

Goodnight hummed thoughtfully in response, low sound of disbelief, with a hint of playfulness he mixed in that kept things light. Of course, he knew Billy could see right through it, and watched the man tilt his head in an appraising look that left Goodnight no room for hiding. 

“What,” Billy asked flatly, not meanly. Goodnight shrugged, smiling a little as he did so, wondering if he looked as charming now as Billy used to say he did all those years ago.

“I am not sure I believe that to be a factual statement, mon cher,” he laid out in a tone that beckoned Billy towards a spirited debate like a partner to a dance.

They may have only been legal spouses in this life for a little over two hours now, but between them was more than ten years of cohabitation that already cultivated the atmosphere of a long married couple.    

“I remember wanting nothing more than to perform a grand, elaborate proposal that you deserved, something lavish like I’d seen back home countless times with family and friends.” He sighed, a quick look back at his ring. “’Course I knew that wouldn’t be possible, not with certain attitudes being what they were.”

Billy snorted. “More than just attitudes. We were illegal.” Billy, his soft smirk revealing his thought on that label.

“Twice over,” Goodnight added. “Though, quite honestly, I have a feeling my family, at the time, would have objected more to your Eastern origins than to us regularly engaging in sodomite practices.”

“And since I had no inclination to see either of us gain intimate knowledge of a hangman’s noose, I had to temper my plans and settle for something less public or extravagant.”

“Thank you for that,” Billy said dryly.

Goodnight rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” he continued. “I remembered a sweet little spot up north, in the – then untamed – wilds of Wyoming, where an opening in a mountain wall hid a beautiful waterfall that emptied into a deep pool so clear you could see right through to the bottom.”

The picture came clearly to him as he reminisced, a tiny corner of paradise that for a moment, they could believe was made for them.

He wondered what had become of it now, in a time when their west was no longer wild.

“And five days away,” Billy interrupted. “In territory we had already passed over. I thought you were crazy to go all the way back up there when we had no reason to.”

“Yet you followed me anyway,” Goodnight said smugly.

This time Billy was the one to roll his eyes.

“You get into too much trouble when I don’t,” he responded, immediately sobering after the words came out. Goodnight felt himself grow solemn as well, both of them undoubtedly thinking of the last time Billy didn’t follow Goodnight.

Thankfully their reunion come just in time for it to be their last, sent through death’s door together, not to be reunited in the flesh until well over a century later.

Goodnight frowned, his mind overtaken by what he personally felt was his greatest moment of cowardice. Even in this lifetime, nothing he’d done had ever shamed him as much. For the longest time, he believed that his life in this modern world, wandering alone from Louisiana to Afghanistan back to what was left of his Old West, was a fitting punishment for his transgressions; having every memory of Billy burned into his mind but unable to find him in the here and now.

A soft pressure at his ankle caused Goodnight to rouse himself from his self-pity, catching Billy using his free hand to press gently fingertips into the skin.

The action caused a flash of memory to spark in Goodnight’s mind; the two of them bunking at some rundown saloon in the middle of nowhere, indulging themselves after a long day of scamming the local townsfolk. Goodnight had been too tired to undress and just laid himself down on the bed, shoes and all. Breaking into a smile when he heard Billy chiding him, opening his eyes to see the other man pulling off Goodnight’s boots and then hauling himself up to pull Billy on top of him, the two of them laughing against each other’s mouths.

Goodnight blinked, distracted by the sudden wetness he could feel behind his eyes.

Another casual display of intimacy that he spent so long missing. That no one then or now could ever match or make up for.

“Goody…” Billy’s worried tone reached Goodnight from across the bed and he looked up to see his husband, that thought was enough to bring the tears back, with open concern etched onto his face, soft hand still resting on Goodnight’s ankle.

Feeling his lower lip quivering, Goodnight quickly rubbed a hand across his clean-shaven face and blew out a long breath, sending his intruding thoughts away with it. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”  

“Goody…” Billy’s tone shifted from worry to near disbelief, just like every time he caught Goodnight trying to hide his feelings from the other man.

Goodnight sighed and smiled, both out of love. “I promise I’m fine, mon cher,” he reassured. At the sound of the familiar pet name, Billy visibly relaxed and returned the smile.

“Alright. Now you gonna tell me how this story ends?” Billy asked, punctuating the question with a comforting squeeze.

Goodnight snorted. “As if you don’t already know.”

Billy shrugged. “Maybe I just like hearing you tell it.” He had always been good at feigning nonchalance and to the casual observer, they might believe Billy was indifferent to any emotional expression at all. But Goodnight knew better and even when Billy’s face was a mask of calm, one look into his eyes would reveal exactly what he was feeling. And now, as Goodnight locked his eyes with Billy’s, he saw a look of sincere fondness reflected back, probably as boundless as the ocean Goodnight had ridden to see with Billy, long ago. The sight was enough to continue bolstering the warmth that was rekindling in Goodnight’s heart. He felt his smile grow larger.

“Well, in that case…” he said, finally feeling back at ease. “I remember, when we finally reached the spot, you gave me one of your patented ‘I can’t believe my partner is this much of an idiot’ looks,” Goodnight received a friendly kick in the shin for that, “and asked me, I believe your exact words were, ‘Why the hell did you drag us all the way back here, Goody? You-‘”

“’- forget something or is your old age getting the best of you?’” Billy finished. His voice sounded exactly the same as when he said those words the first time, making their recollection of the memory even more authentic, as if it happened only the other day instead of over a hundred years ago.

Goodnight’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline and for a long moment, only stared at Billy who was valiantly attempting a straight face. But Goodnight noticed the tell-tale twitches at the edges of Billy’s mouth and, without warning, burst into laughter. He saw Billy crack a wide smile at the sound and shake his head, surely at the sheer ridiculousness of their situation.

“The things we remember,” Billy said, voicing their thoughts aloud. He passed the small stub left of the cigarette back to Goodnight, who, after quieting his laughter, accepted it easily. Taking one last inhale before stubbing it out, he exhaled the remaining smoke into the space between them, the rest of his laughter going with it.

“Memory is surely a strange thing,” he said.

“And with our…circumstances, it’s even stranger than most.”

Billy nodded, expression turning thoughtful.

“You think there are others like us?” he asked. Stretching out a little farther, sinking his head back into his own pillow, his feet were close enough to brush up against Goodnight’s thigh. And he did so, the tips of his toes grazing against the fine hairs there. He blew out a long breath, sending his intruding thoughts away with it.

Without even looking, Goodnight reached over to gently cup the arch of Billy’s left foot, lazily rubbing his thumb against the soft skin. “Others as in other fortunate individuals who were reborn into this world with memories of their old lives attached with them like invisible weights? Reincarnated souls, doomed to walk the earth with all their previous memories and experiences intruding on the opportunity to make new ones? Is that what you mean when you say ‘others like us?’”  

Billy sighed, long and heavy, like he was burdened with every misfortune ever visited upon mankind.

“Thought this life would have separated you from your dramatic flair,” Billy said. Goodnight grinned, taking the barb in stride.

“Now, you know that not even something as powerful as death could rid me of what I have always considered to be one of my most charming, and resilient, personality traits,” he said. “As for a real answer to your question, it stands to some reason that you and I wouldn’t be the only ones subjected to whatever manner of divine interference this surely is. But aside from you, I haven’t come across anyone else I knew from a previous life.”

He paused for a moment, thinking about how good it would be to see another person from their motley crew of seven. Sam Chisholm was the first person Goodnight thought of, the only other one he missed almost as much as Billy, but even seeing that damn fool Faraday would have been a relief. To know that the two of them weren’t alone in whatever this was.

“Just me?” Billy asked, interrupting Goodnight’s train of thought. Bringing himself back to his husband’s attention, Goodnight caught Billy looking at him like he’d managed to drag the moon down just for him.

“Yeah, just you,” Goodnight said. Every time he looked at Billy was like seeing him for the first time all over again. It made each moment fragile, like Goodnight was holding crystal in his hands and one wrong move would break it, revealing all of this to be the product of another terrible dream. Even before, he had felt like they were living on borrowed time, would be found out one way or another and every night when that thought crossed his mind he would Billy a little tighter.

With a few slow and graceful movements, Billy moved to curl up against Goodnight, who immediately enfolded his husband in his arms, holding him as gently as before. He pressed a kiss to Billy’s temple before going back to the story he wanted finish.

“Out there, in that beautiful little spot hidden away just for us, I told you that I did, in fact, forget something.” He swallowed. “I said that, the last time we were here I forgot to ask you to marry me.” Pausing, he tightened his hold on Billy and breathed out through his nose. “Do you remember what you did in response?”

Billy smirked; Goodnight could feel it against his skin. “I looked at you, stunned, I remember feeling, then I laughed. And your face fell so spectacularly I laughed even harder.”

Goodnight turned his face into Billy’s hair to grumble inaudibly.

“I was laughing,” Billy continued in a patient tone. “Because, regardless of legality or whatever obstacles in our way, I already saw us as married. In the only way that mattered. And I was stunned you hadn’t realized that.”

“Perhaps I just wanted to be a gentleman,” Goodnight responded defensively.

“Hmmmmm,” Billy remarked in a disbelieving tone. “Well, after I explained myself, I told you that _of course_ I’d accept your gracious proposal. Then we kissed, made love on that very spot, and lived happily ever after. The end,” Billy finished, punctuating it with a kiss to Goodnight, who laughed in the middle of it.

“Other than the time we died to save an entire town, I’d say that’s about how all of our stories end, wouldn’t you?”

Billy’s face turned thoughtful.

“Even this one?” Beneath his loving gaze was just the slightest hint of nervousness.

“Even this one,” Goodnight promised, sealing it with a kiss.


End file.
